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. 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.v S. LAOAVALERIE.

(No Model.)

MARINE VESSEL.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. LAGAVALERIE. MARINE VESSEL.

No. 538,921. 4 Patented May '7, 1895.

ATTORNEYS.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

S. LACAVALERIE.

MARINE VESSEL.

Patented May '7, 1895.

. .iilli INVENTOH WITNESSES:

A 7TOHNEYS.

no: NORRIS PEYERS co, moron-run wuivmc-rou p. c

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

S. LAOAVALERIB.

MARINE VESSEL.

No. 538,921. Patented May 7, 1895.

A TTOHNEYS,

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- {TE TATES ATENT IQ MARINE VESSEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,921, dated May '7,1895.

Application filed October 2, 1894. Serial No. 524,764:- (No model.)

vessel which may be easily and rapidly pro-- pelled, either on orbeneath the surface of the water, and to provide a simple means ofpropulsion for the vessel which is not likely to .get out of order.

A further object of my invention is to construct and arrange the vesselso that its crew may be as comfortable as possible, that air may beprovided when the vessel is beneath the surface of the water, and that alookout may be maintained when the vessel is above the water surface.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vessel embodying my invention. Fig.2 is a central longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail longitudinal section and shows the arrangement of thestern-compartment of the vessel and the steering apparatus therein. Fig.4. is a sectional plan, on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2, of the bow of thevessel. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan, on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2, of thestern of the vessel; and Fig. 6 is a detail cross-section through thevessels bow and shows the arrangement of the driving mechanism therein.

The vessel, like the one described in the former patent referred to, isof a general cigar shape and is largest in cross section at a point justabaft the bow, and the hull 10 of the vessel terminates at its bow endin a small cone 11 and at its stern end in a larger cone 12 which formsa compartment large enough to contain the rudder working apparatus andafford a lookout, as hereinafter described. The body portion of the hullis independent of the bow and stern cones, the bow cone 11 being coupledby means of the driving shaft, as hereinafter described, and the sterncone being connected with the hull by the coupling rings 13 which areheld together by strong bolts 14, as shown best in Fig. 3, these ringsbeing large enough for persons to pass conveniently through them ingoing back and forth from the hull of the vessel to the sterncompartment.

The abutting ends of the hull 10 and cone 12 have in-turned flanges 15which are clamped by the coupling rings 13, these rings having outwardlyprojecting segments 17 to save friction, which segments bear against thepropeller ring 18 which ring turns between the flanges 15 and is held inplace by them,these flanges and the coupling rings 13 serving as abearing for the ring 18 which forms the rear end of the propeller. Thering 18 is reduced in the center, as shown at 19 to receive the ribs 20of the flanges l5, and the ribs thus pro vide against the displacementof the propeller ring. The propeller encircles the hull 10 of the vesseland extends its full length, as shown in Fig. 1, the propellercomprising a series of spiral flanges 21 and their supporting rings 18,22 and 23. The ring 18 is held as described above, while the rings 22serve as braces and turn loosely on the hull 10 without touching thesame while the ring 23 is held between the bow cone 11 and the bow ofthe hull 10, the ring being penetrated by the driving shaft 24 which isarranged longitudinally in the bow of the vessel and has, atits forwardend, a suitable head to retain it in the bow cone 11. I

The driving shaft may be turned by any suitable motor, but electricmotors are preferably used to drive it, because these generate nonoxious gases, and the motors are preferably arranged as describedbelow. The driv ing shaft is at its front end journaled in a suitablestufiing box 25 and at its rear end it is mounted in the ordinary way ina thrust bearing 26, and on the shaft is a worm wheel 27, see Figs. 2, 4and 6, which is driven by a worm 28 on the armature shaft 29, whichshaft forms the common shaft of two electric motors which may be of anyapproved type and which are driven by storage batteries 31 which arestowed in the bow compartment 32 of the vessel, but it will beunderstood that the batteries may be disposed in the most convenientplaces of the vessel so as to serve for ballast as well as power.

The vessel is provided with a suitable floor or deck 32 and preferablybeneath this, but in any convenient place, are airtanks 33 in which airis held under pressure to be released as needed for breathing purposeswhen the vessel is submerged. The vessel is also provided with asuitable door or hatchway 34 to provide for ingress and egress and toprovide also for introducing any necessary materials into it, and in thevessel are also windows 35 to permit light to enter when the vessel isabove water.

The vessel has a stairway 36 leading from the floor 32 to the rings 13,and on the stern cone 12 is a lookout 37 which may be fitted with anynecessary platforms, &c., and which is provided on its four sides withwindows 38 through which observations may be made, this arrangementgiving a person complete range of the horizon.

To provide for steering the vessel vertically, laterally and helicallyit is provided with a series of fill-shaped rudders 39,40 and 41, therudder 39 being placed centrally beneath the stern cone 12, the rudders40 on opposite sides of the said cone and the rudder 41 at the stern ofthe said cone. Each rudder is held substantially parallel with thevessel and is capable of either a rotary or oscillatory motion, asdescribed below. To this end the rudders are mounted in a substantiallysimilar way and the rudder 39 is secured to a shaft 42 which isjournaled in a movable box 43, so as to turn with the box and alsorevolve in it, and this box is formed on the end of a hollow shaft whichturns in a suitable stuffing box 44 on the under side of the cone 12,asshown clearly in Fig. 3, and the shaft 45 also turns in a supporting arm46 of a bracket 47 which is erected in the cone 12 and supports variousparts of the rudder working apparatus. The shaft 45 is provided with agear wheel 48 which is turned bya gear wheel 49 on a vertical shaft 50which is supported in the arm 46 and also in arms 51 and 52 of thebracket 47, and the shaft is driven by an electric motor 53, and whenthe shaft is turned it, by reason of the gear connection just described,turns the hollow shaft 45 and box 43 so as to move the rudder 39laterally and thus impart a lateral movement to the vessel.

To enable the rudder 39 to be oscillated or revolved on its own axis,the shaft 42 is provided with a pinion 54 meshing with a pinion 55 onthe shaft 56, which extends upward through the shaft 45 and is providedwith a gear wheel 57 meshing with a gear wheel 58 on the hollow shaft 59which, together with other shafts to be described below, is mounted onthe shaft 50 and the shaft 59 is turned by an electric motor 60. Iftherefore, in order to giye a spiral movement to the vessel, it isdesired to oscillate or revolve the rudder 39, the motor 60 is set inmotion and, by reason of the gear connection just described, the shafts56 and 42 are turned and the rudder 39 revolved.

It is desirable, in order to get quick steerage, that the main rudder41be given a movement similar to and coincident with the movement of therudder 39, and to this end it is connectedwith the shafts 45 and 56 bythe following mechanism: On the shaft 45 is a sprocket wheel 61 which.connects by means of a chain 62 with a sprocket wheel 63 on the sleeve64 which forms a part of the box 65 which is journaled on the verticalcountershaft 66 mounted in suitable bearings 67 on the top and bottomwalls of the cone 12, and this box 65 is held in asuitable casing 68 andcarries the shaft 69 of the main rudder 41, which shaft 69 is journaledin a stuffing box 70 forming a part of the box 65 and in a box 71 whichslides laterally in a slideway 71 at the rear of the stern cone section12. It will thus be seen that when the shaft 45 is turned so as toimpart a lateral movement to the box 43 and rudder 39, it will also, bymeans of the sprocket wheels and chains, turn the box 65 and movethe'shaft 69 and rudder 41 so as to give the same movement to the rudder41 that is imparted to the rudder 39. The slideway 71 is shown on the ontside of the cone section 12, but by making the said cone section alittle broader at the stern .itwill be unnecessary to run the slidewayoutside the stern.

To provide for revolving the rudder 41 in unison with the rudder 39 itsshaft 69 is connected directly to the shaft 56, the shaft 69 beinggeared by the pinions 72 and 73 to the vertical shaft 66 and the latteris provided with a sprocket wheel 74 which is driven by a chain 75connecting with a sprocket wheel 76 on the shaft 56, and when the shaft56 is revolved to revolve the rudder 39 it will be seen that it alsoimparts a similar movement to the rudder 41.

The side rudders 40 are mounted in a general way like the rudders 39 and41, and their function is chiefly to steer the vessel up and down. Theserudders are each secured to a shaft 77 which is held in a box 78 carriedby a hollow shaft 79 which is journaled in asuitable bearing 80 in theside of the cone 12, and the hollow shafts 79 are supported on a transVerse shaft 81 extending across the cone 12, and the shafts 79 areprovided with gear wheels 82 meshing with and driven by gear wheels 83on a shaft 84 which turns in step bearings, not shown, but constructedsimilarly to the bearings 67 (see Fig. 3) and is held parallel with theshaft 81. The shaft 84 is provided with a worm wheel 86 which mesheswith a worm 87 on the hollow shaft 88, see Fig. 3, which turns on theshaft 50 and is driven by an electric motor 89, and thus, by setting themotor in motion, the shaft 88 is turned and, by means of the gearingjust described, imparts a movement to both hollow shafts 79 and thesemove the boxes 78 up or down, as the case may be, and the boxes move theshaft 77 and the rudders 40, thus changing the angle of the rudders tothe vessel and causing the latter to ascend or descend. The rudders 40are also capable of rotary movement, and to this endthe shafts 77 andthe said rudders are connected by pinions 90 and 91 with the shaft 81,and the latter connects by a worm wheel 92 and worm 93 with the hollowshaft 94 on the shaft 50, and the said hollow shaft is driven by anelectric motor 95 which, on being set in motion, turns the shaft 94: andthe latter, by its gearing, turns the shaft 81, which, by means of thepinions 91 and 90, imparts a rotary movement to the shafts 77 andrudders 40.

It will be seen from the above description that any necessary movementmay be imparted to either rudder, and thus the direction of the vesselmay be very easily regulated.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a very simple andpowerful means is provided for propelling the vessel and that the rudderarrangement is such as to bring it under perfect control and enable itto be moved like a fish in almost any direction.

I do not lay any claim, in this application, to the arrangement of therudders and the means for operating them as this part of my invention isclaimed in another application for Letters Patent, filed by me February11, 1895, Serial No. 537,948.

, Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of the hull and the endportion having in-turned flanges, the clamping rings to fasten theflanges together, the propeller ring held between the flanges androtatable relatively thereto, and the propeller secured to the saidringand encircling the hull, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the hull and the end portion having in-turnedflanges provided with curved ribs in their opposing faces, the propellerring held to rotate between the said flanges and provided with recessesto engage the said ribs, means for fastening the flanges together, andthe propeller secured to the said ring and encircling thehull,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the hull and stern cone of the vessel and thein-turned flanges on the said hull and cone, of the propeller encirclingthe hull, the propeller ring secured to one end of the propeller andentering between the flanges,said ring being provided with groovesadapted to engage ribs on the flanges to hold the ring in place, and theclamping rings to fasten the flanges together, substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination of the hull and the end portion having in-turnedflanges, the clamping rings to fasten the flanges together, said ringsbeing provided with segments projecting outwardly into the space betweenthe flanges, the propeller ring held to rotate between the flanges andengaging the said segments, and the propeller secured to the said ringand encircling the hull, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the hull and the end portion provided within-turned flanges, the clamping rings peripherally grooved to receivethe said flanges and hold them together, the propeller ring held torotate on the clamping rings between the flanges, and the propellersecured to the said ring and encircling the hull, substantially asdescribed.

SEBASTIEN LAOAVALERIE.

Witnesses:

E. NtooLAs, LOUIS H. CHARLESVILLE.

